As followers of the Buddha, we seek to develop maitri, compassion, joy, and equanimity in this life, in spite of the challenges we face. The dangers of samsara will weaken our efforts if we succumb to worry and fear. Here are some helpful ideas from "The Art of Happiness" by His Holiness the Dalai Lama:

* Combating worry - Worry needn't consume you. The Dalai Lama suggests that if there is a solution to a problem, there is no need to worry. And if there is no solution, there is no need to worry. It's so logical and obvious that it's easily overlooked, but this philosophy can be liberating and life altering.

* Maintaining perspective - According to the Dalai Lama, "if you focus too closely, too intensely on a problem when it occurs, it appears uncontrollable. But if you compare that event with some other greater event, look at the same problem from a distance, then it appears smaller and less overwhelming." This ability to view one's problems from different perspectives is known as having a supple mind.

* Letting go - Sometimes things can't be changed, wrongs can't be righted and circumstances can't be controlled. "It's like an old person eating - an old person with very poor teeth," says the Dalai Lama. "The soft things you eat; the hard things you just leave."

ronnewmexico wrote:It has occured to me that some who read this may not know who Julian Assange is. He is the spokesperson for a group called wikileaks who released 70k or so, papers of secret nature from the US government on Afghanistan. He last I checked,(though I am not absolutely current), was suddenly and mysteriously(after release of the papers) being sought for questioning subsequent to a charge of rape or sexual assault in Sweden. His group continues to release the papers, and the US government has initiated several responses to this.Heruka states he is a double agent really working for the US in some manner.

time, as they say ron, will tell . the whole Santiniketan Park Association cult upbringing is quite telling. off to the elysian fields then.........

"The fate of biological diversity for the next 10 million years will almost certainly be determined during the next 50 to 100 years by the activities of a single species," write Ehrlich and Pringle in their proposal for addressing the biodiversity crisis. Adds Pringle: "The world's remaining wild areas and the species in them are being pulverized, and that's a multi-layered tragedy."

That’s why Ehrlich and Pringle call for educating women, which has slowed or stopped population growth in the developed countries of Europe. "Education and employment—for women especially—along with access to contraception and safe abortions are the most important components," they write. Adds Ehrlich: "The most basic response is to get going on stopping population growth and starting a decline. Second is doing something about consumption. If you don't do anything about those, then you are in trouble in all the others: more people, means more greenhouse gases, which means more rapid climate change."

I think it's Buddhists' job to help the world with our regular practice. Get to purifying your karma and accumulating merit. Meditate on death or whatever your preferred/assigned karma purification practice is. I don't think anyone can overturn the corruption like dedicated Buddhists can. We can't "wake people up", or at least not enough of them, to take on the evil ones head on. As hard as it is to say this, the world is full of evil because it's people's karma to experience it. At least purify your own karma first, then you can help others. The ball's in our court guys.

To develop bodhichitta, which is the actual practice, you need to develop such compassion that you simply cannot bear others being tormented by suffering. But in order to develop this compassion, you must know exactly how you yourself are plagued by suffering. And you must understand that the whole of samsara is by nature suffering. But first you must fear the lower realms, for without this you will have no repudiation of celestial and human happiness. You must therefore train your mind in the small- and medium- scope parts of the path. -- Pabongka Rinpoche

The importance of talking, what is hidden by sometimes beautiful surface which can direct or indirect harm many innocent ones, this topic is protection and action by Bodhisattva for the welfare of all and not action through judgement.

Take caution friend, not to polarize yourself in your statements. I say this because there is always a danger of creating an us-them kind of syndrome which just makes more eye-for-an-eye arguments that just keep blindin' the rest of the world.

If you touch into modern life, you touch into the culture of death. If you touch into the present moment, you touch into life and death. The cultural majority of the world desires happiness, and love, and is unfortunately ignorant to not realize its creating its deathbed.

This is no different than you and I. How many things in your own life are there by the design of your choices? You are just as much a part of the culture of death as you are of the culture of life. As is the rest of the samsaric world.

I don't mean to sound stern, if anything I'm offering a gentle reminder to not polarize into "I'm *insert label*" and they're *insert label*" The truth is we are they and they are us. LOL.

We are all always caught somewhere between life in death in the uncertainties we face when we just don't know how to fix the mess we made. And in this sense, whether it's painful or not to acknowledge, we're all in the same boat.

So my question is, what does polarizing the idea into these separate parts do for you that helps you practice dharma. I think most evidence suggests that reality is NOT parts but a non-dual moment to moment happening with dependent relationship to all its causes and conditions and effects. This is a very complex network of causalities, correlations, and karma is a big part of this ongoing happening... We only see parts because of View.

I agree with Keith on this. I would hope the appropriate compulsory restrictions are applied to the development of GMOs. However, at least in US, with the way de-regulation has been revealing itself to be rampant all throughout US infrastructure, I don't have too much expectation that more regulations will be put in place any time soon. We also don't have long term track records of the effects of certain kinds of GMO manipulations can have on the human body, child or adult. There are some studies, but really, when you start making tomatoes produce digestable proteins that aren't natural to a "regular" tomato... There might be questions about introducing mutations before knowing long term consequence this creation will have...

Death is as much a business as life is. Because the two are completely interconnected, and one could not exist without the other. I'm not condoning unethical behaviors of legislative institutions, but I'm saying the reality is that we must look past the conventions we set up and recognize how we are in this just as deep as anyone else, and there really is no escape from it. We will die to one day, every single person here, will not be here in 200 years. Think about it. The world is constantly trying to continue to build upon itself while it struggles in losing the wise generations always having to face the same dilemmas all over again, as they slowly shift into grand big national and natural catastrophes. This is the nature of living.

Always the bitter with the sweet.

The media won't report on this because the "media" at least in the US and several other countries is completely privatized. There is no real "free press" left. It's all owned. I believe UPI (United Press International) is owned by the same person, and last I knew that person was Reverend Moon of the Moonies. Talk about This happened I think in 2000, it's been 10 years there has been no commercial "free press" besides NPR and PBS? Look it up, interesting story how he came to buy them... oh just found a quick link article for your frightening uh, I mean reference http://www.mediachannel.org/originals/upi-moon.shtml

So where are you gonna get the truth? Look around, the press is mostly a joke. These forums are some of the few places you can find people who spend way too much time online knowing useless things like the events of the world, and you have to dig your own worms. Nothing offered by the media can be taken as is anymore. I mean you can, there's no shame in it, but it's not necessarily much of a guide on the accuracy of what news you're getting.

To expect the media to report fairly when its content is completely conditional on the agendas of the private pockets funding it, dunno, seems naive when the reality is quite another thing... It's like expecting baseballers to go off the steroids when really everyone does it because the standard has now been set by the steroids in a lot of ways. Steroided players do better, right or wrong, the steroids work for the athletes, regardless of the horrible effects the steroids have in the short and long term is of no concern to the moneymachine that pumps out steroided athletes on the one hand while cursing and making big shows of how appalled the commissions are... please. No demand, no supply. This is the way of suffering. And this is how it repeats on and on and on... In the same way, sensationalized suffering makes news.

The best you can do is educate yourself and help others educate themselves, but don't set up barriers between you and they, because as my OmBoy dearest Kahlil Gibran says, sadness is a wall between two gardens. And honestly, do we need any more fear and paranoia than we already have all around us?

"To love. To be loved. To never forget your own insignificance. To never get used to the unspeakable violence and the vulgar disparity of life around you. To seek joy in the saddest places. To pursue beauty to its lair. To never simplify what is complicated or complicate what is simple. To respect strength, never power. Above all, to watch. To try and understand. To never look away. And never, never, to forget." –Arundhati Roy

I look not to appearing words but to the meaning behind them. Than there are no any barriors in perception but vast concern. I really think this is the meaning here by Heruka. Concern, responsability for all. not blindly judgements.

Love in life. To use our breath in love for each and everyone. Then right compassion is not always pushing chocolat in a mouth with rotten tooth, a dentist can be more helpful.

To sweep dust under the carpet and go to sit on it with a holy smile for the sake of "surface peace" brings lots of harm. But we are so used to do so. Close the pinky walls please. like the church, good place where nobody seek.

There is lots and lots of harm done by hypocrisy and laws for keeping "harmony". This are my two cents based on experiences in systems which are kept silence for the sake of keeping people "at ease".